Puberty

Shona Nunan

1993

Red gum wood

also in bronze

edition of 8

126 x 12.5 x 14cm

‘Puberty’ was made from a red gum fence post. I love red gum, particularly old red gum. It is sometimes like iron to carve and is a brilliant red when polished. Squeezing her tiny body into the parameters of the post somehow made the post seem bigger, it’s like she had a presence  hidden in that post all along and when she emerged there she was, pure and sweet and self protective, a feeling as big as the tree she came from. I was reluctant to sell this sculpture to someone who wanted it to go outside because I foresaw it rotting away in the weather, so I cast it  in an edition of bronze. It retains the elements of the wood but stands freely outdoors with little maintenance.